13 Simple and Often Neglected Steps to Be the Favorite Freelance Translator of the Project Managers Working for Your Localization
Partners
Make no mistake: it is the Vendor Manager (VM) who decides about your application as a freelance translator but it is the Project Manager (PM) who
decides how many job requests you will be assigned to
And believe me, it is easier to be applied than to be assigned. Except if you are a subject matter expert Icelandic-Urdu reviewer specialized in
nuclear energy.
If you are a good translator with a general subject matter niche and a widely available language pair, you will have to present a plethora of soft
skills to get to the top of the vendor pool, and most of these are directly related to your communication with your Project Manager.
Of course, quality comes first, but that is only a prerequisite. If the Project Manager can choose from a number of potential partners of the same
of similar level quality, they will first contact their 'favorites' first.
What makes a 'favorite'?
Generally
- responsiveness
- good reading comprehension (I'll let you know below what I mean)
- attention to details and instructions
- good problem solving skills
Yes, you read these clichés in each and every job application you have ever encountered. Let me share what these clichés mean on practical level if you are to deal with a Sith Project Manager from the Dark Side who came to your Death Star to put you back on schedule.
1. Read the job request - every word of it - before you confirm your availability. When you receive a job request from a partner or
a client it is tempting to send a quick 'yes' even if you don't have time to review the job details. However, it will give everybody trouble if you didn't take an important detail into
consideration before accepting the request and you start to negotiate and to clear misunderstandings after hand-off. Even worse if you eventually decline the job despite your previous approval
when the deadline clock is already ticking.
Suggestion: If you don't have time to read all the instructions, send a 'well received' reply and ask your PM how long she can wait for your final confirmation. That will help your partner a lot and give the impression of a reliable professional.
2. AGAIN, READ THE JOB REQUEST!!! Does it look similar to the first point? Correct. It's importance can't be overestimated or overemphasized. PMs will quickly sort out the partners who usually ask about conditions already detailed in the initial job request. It happens to all of us that something skips our attention, but if it becomes a habit, you'll soon see a decrease in the number of new job requests.
Suggestion: If you need further information about an upcoming job, make sure that the answer is not already given in the job request.
3. If there are 5 questions in an e-mail, your reply should include 5 answers. Whatever the PM asks, it is relevant for her to decide if you are a 'good match' for the project she is about to assign to you. Make sure you cover all of her questions in one reply.
Suggestion: Even if you can answer only 4 of the 5 questions, add a comment to the 5th too to assure the PM that it didn't skip your attention. A simple 'let me get back to you about this' will suffice, but make sure you do get back to her without further reminder. Set a reminder for yourself on your to-do list or in your e-mail application.
4. Reply to job requests even if you are not available to do the job. That's an important information for the PM, especially if it is an urgent project. If you are 100% sure you can't take any new assignments today, this week or in the next 2-3 weeks, let her know instantly.
5. Set up an auto-reply if you don't monitor your e-mail for days due to any reason. This should be something obvious, but it is not, at least not in the freelance business. Why not. When I worked as a PM, I received vacation alerts and out-of-office messages almost every day from partners working in corporate environment. Why not from freelancers? Of course there are good examples. I had a partner who traveled a lot around the world, and she always set up her customized alert saying something like: 'I work from Here-and-There from [date] to [date] in [time zone], so I am currently asleep, I am getting back to you in a couple of hours when the Sun rises here.' I loved it. And I could calculate when I can expect an answer from her.
6. Open the project upon hand-off even if you don't start to work on it right away. It is a rare gift in localization business if you receive a job that you don't have to start to work on immediately. But everybody will be in trouble if you realize there is something not clear or working when you do start the job and you can't reach your PM for half a day due to the time zone gap.
Suggestion: Take the time to check-out the project from the server, open the zip file, check if everything you'll need (or the items listed in the hand-off notice) is included, if the files are not corrupted, etc. It will take 5 minutes, and the PM will be grateful if you communicate hand-off issues right away, when she can help or handle the issue in time without losing precious hours from the scheduled turn-around time.
7. Solve your local problems yourself. PMs are helpful. They will always help you whenever they can. But please, be aware that they are not your help desk. The fact that the job is assigned by the PM doesn't mean she can fix your software issue, internet connection or fill the holes in your knowledge about the tool. And again: the time zone gaps. There is a chance you can't even contact her while the work should already be in process.
Suggestion: Ask yourself first how you can solve the problem. You have plenty of ways to look for solution: check this and that,
contact the real help desks, ask your colleagues on freelancer forums, etc.
8. Mind the time zone gaps. Be aware of your PM's office hours. Feel free to send them messages during their night, but don't expect answer before their morning. Ignoring time zone gaps might waste half a day or a whole day of your turnaround time and mess up the whole project schedule. PMs are human beings just like yourself: they switch the computer of at a certain time (usually much later than they 'officially' should), they have a family, and yes, they sleep too. They are not available 7/24 (except at some very large global localization companies where night shifts are arranged to provide real 7/24 presence).
9. Be open about professional insecurities. It will not hurt your reputation to confess you are not confident of translating a certain topic assigned to you. On the contrary, your responsible quality-conscious attitude make a good impression on your PM.
Suggestion: If you are uncertain, ask for a representative sample or a longer one if your PM already sent you a short sample of the source text, take a quick look, translate a sentence or two and get back to her honestly about your impression. She will be happy to assign another job to you next time with another topic. No damage done.
10. Invest in tools and knowledge. You run your own translation business. You have to use your own tools and you have to know how to use them. If you consider the cost of starting a business, freelance translation services are one of the cheapest to start. You don't need office, warehouse, vehicles. Once you have the necessary qualifications you can start this business with a PC or laptop in your own room with a stable internet connection. But you will not get far without at least one CAT tool license. The bad news: There are more and more CAT tools on the market. You can tell your PM that other PMs provide license. Some of them do - at least for a while. But their long-term policy is always to find partners who work with their own license and you might be replaced once they find a translator with similar experience who work with their own tools.
Suggestion: Have license to at least 3 market-leading CAT tools. This is an investment, yes, just like your laptop, your MS Office and your internet subscription. But you still don't have to rent a warehouse.
11. Be open to work with new tools. There are niche tools you are not expected to have experience of, but if you are open to learn them on demand, they can open doors to new profitable markets. Suggestion: If you would like to take the job, but you are not familiar with the tool, download the free trial version (most of the tools offer free trial option). If you have worked with other CAT tools, it won't take long to get used a new one. Don't be afraid of letting your PM know that it is the first time you work with the tool. They will appreciate your efforts.
12. Use the provided templates for communication. If you receive query sheets or LQA sheets, or any template as part of the hand-off kit, use them. Don't send queries in e-mail. It won't take longer for you to type a question into a sheet cell than into an e-mail text body and the sheet will also tell you what other information you are requested to give as part of the query (file name, language pair, location/segment, etc.). This is important for the identification of the issue especially in case of projects of high word count. If you just drop a question in e-mail, you will most likely receive a reply that will ask you more details.
Suggestion: Fill in every cell and use the same sheet, don't open a clear one for every query.
13. Communicate the unexpected as soon as they happen. Deadlines are absolute. But if the sky falls, let your PM know immediately and start to negotiate about extension as soon as possible. Again, it will not ruin your reputation (unless your sky falls on daily basis).
These steps will not only make your PM happy, but they will decrease the plethora of e-mails in your inbox and make the cooperation much easier for
you too.
And how to be a freelancer's favorite PM? If you are freelancer I would be glad to learn about the same story from your point of view.
Please, share your thoughts below in the comment section.
Thank you for reading my post.
Ágnes
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